Classic Gazpacho
Dressed up for dinner with a drizzle of olive oil, croutons and chopped egg.
In the July, 2015 issue of Food and Wine, three chefs were asked to reveal how they get revved up in the morning. Two of the answers you will guess. One chef said espresso; a very sensible choice and part of my own daily ritual. The second chef said Orange Juice, and who can argue with that? A burst of sunshine in a glass would rev up almost anyone. The third chef, Jose Andres, the well-known Spanish chef, food pioneer and TV cooking show host, proclaimed that gazpacho gives him his daily start. That’s right, gazpacho, the Spanish tomato based cold soup. In the hottest southern regions in Spain, gazpacho is like sweet tea in the south. It is made in every household and stored chilled, ready to consume in the refrigerator. In many restaurants here in the USA, gazpacho is served like a salsa, thick and chunky with cilantro and other Mexican ingredients. True Spanish gazpacho is a thin liquid, similar to tomato juice but much more complex and nutritive with the added vegetables and olive oil.
My gazpacho enlightenment started on my first trip to Spain. After graduating from high school, my Mom and I and three of my cousins went on a trip to Spain to visit my cousin Mark who was stationed at an air force base just outside of Madrid. My Mom and I decided to take a long side trip to the south of Spain to visit Granada and Sevilla. In retrospect it probably wasn’t a sensible thing to do since it gets so hot there in the summer, in fact, it was unbearably hot (especially in our 70's polyester pants). There is a saying in this southern region of Spain, that it gets so hot in the summer the birds drop out of the trees. The Southern Spanish are known to be colorful speakers and even though I have never met anyone who actually saw birds fall out of trees, you get the idea of how hot it can be. That afternoon, some thirty-plus years ago, sitting with my Mom on the covered terrace of a café, we were served our first taste of wonderfully cold gazpacho in small bowls with perfectly diced garnishes; diced hard-boiled eggs, cucumber, onion and fried croutons. The flavor profile was not at all what I expected. It had a velvety smooth taste yet it was tangy and fresh. It became the constant item we ordered everywhere we dined. It got us through the summer and we never tired of it, especially because cafes and restaurants adapt their own unique variations, so no two are exactly alike. Some add more tomatoes, peppers or cucumbers depending on their preferences, which includes drinking it out of a small glass, the way I imagine Chef Jose Andres does in the morning when he is anticipating his daily workload.
I can certainly relate to Chef Andres and the rigors of his mega-restaurant business. During my old café days, I was running three at a time plus catering, and I was often in need of a re-charge. Many a late night was spent catering events and parties. Many times at these events, I would sell pitchers of gazpacho meant to be poured into shot glasses as an instant pick-me-up, or a “Get the party started” booster shot. It was a novel idea at the time and initially only a few brave clients tried it; they always came back reporting success stories from their guests. The party goers who tried them probably thought they were bloody Mary shots; which makes me wonder if the inventor of the Bloody Mary cocktail ever visited Spain and was inspired by this traditional Spanish “soup”. That also makes me consider adding vodka! Eventually, my gazpacho was a party staple and a popular item on the cafe menu. During those catering/cafe days, I lived in California where it’s usually warm enough to warrant having a pitcher of Gazpacho in the refrigerator at all times. I now know that living in Virginia, is even hotter in the summer with all the humidity, and this gazpacho recipe should be part of everyone’s summer fortification arsenal.
I had many firsts on that trip to Spain; I realized my Mom and I were friends as we immersed ourselves in a culture full of contradictions, rich with history and passion, and I began a lifetime love of all things Spanish, including my husband! Whether the ice cold tomato base soup is elegantly ladled into a bowl with garnishes or casually poured into a glass for an on the go pick-me-up, there is no question it will jump-start and refresh you.
The simplicity of the recipe is startling and if you have never made a traditional southern Spanish gazpacho you owe it to yourself to try this recipe. Ingredients are the key; the tomatoes should be ready to burst, their ripeness easily surrendering their juice and sweetness to the batch of summer comfort in a blender.
This is a recipe which lends itself to adaptations so feel free to add your own spin. You can spice it up with hot sauce or bulk it up with shrimp but do try it in its original version as posted here. After all these years of being a classic it still has a fresh, new taste that can wake up anybody and help you keep your cool when things get really hot.
Ready to serve out of the pitcher
